“He should use the Gehry design, because he will get great events from around the world going directly to Brooklyn,” the mayor told a team of reporters and editors from the Community Newspaper Group, the parent company of The Brooklyn Paper, on Monday. “Simon and Garfunkel would go to Brooklyn in a second before they go to Madison Square Garden. They’re New Yorkers.”

The meeting was a stop on the campaign trail for the would-be third-termer, who won the chance to run for re-election last year after the City Council acceded to his wishes that the two-term limit be eliminated, despite two public referenda affirming it.

Naturally, that topic came up.

“It was a unique period in the city,” Bloomberg said. “The economy was starting to fall apart, our school system was on the verge of a major breakthrough. … So I just decided that I would go ahead and, if the City Council wanted to change the law, let’s see what the voters want.

The hour-long interview covered many topics, but Bloomberg dwelled on Brooklyn’s long-running saga, Atlantic Yards, arguing that lawsuits by Ratner’s opponents were largely responsible for depriving Brooklyn of the vaunted architect’s vision.

“One of the great sins here is this small group of people stalled it so long [that] the economy is different,” Bloomberg said. “I tried to get Ratner to go ahead and do the Gehry design … but the economy is just not there.”

The mayor conceded that Ratner probably would have faltered during the real-estate bust, even without relentless opposition from groups like Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn.

“He might have been in trouble halfway through, but at least it would have been in the ground, going up.”

He also blasted the kinds of community benefits agreement that Ratner signed with several groups, some of which did not exist before they signed an agreement to support the project in exchange for some financial backing.

“I’m violently opposed to community benefits agreements,” he said. “A small group of people, to feather their own nests, extort money from the developer? That’s just not good government.”

Plenty of other topics came up during a far-ranging interview in our Metrotech offices, a chat that the mayor sandwiched between his daily Spanish lesson and a Ramadan dinner later that night at Gracie Mansion:

• Bloomberg also discussed the status of the other major redevelopment project in Brooklyn — his rezoning of Coney Island. Last month, the City Council approved his controversial proposal permitting the creation of a new open-air amusement park surrounded by year-round attractions like hotels, movie theaters and an indoor water park, plus 4,500 apartments.

The mayor has nearly put the final piece of the puzzle in place — the purchase of some or all of the land from developer Joe Sitt’s Coney Island portfolio.

“Fundamenta­lly, the deal with him is done,” said the two-term mayor.

He declined to speculate on what the final price would be, saying that it was in the ballpark of prior announced figures, which were around $100 million.

When asked why he wouldn’t just allow Sitt to develop the land now that Bloomberg’s zoning plan has passed, the mayor said bluntly that Sitt never intended to carry out his goal of building his own Vegas-by-the-Atlantic tourist magnet.

“He doesn’t want to develop,” Bloomberg asserted.

But now that the zoning has passed, he could, the mayor was reminded. Bloomberg fired back with his own reminder to Sitt.

“He needs sewers, he needs water, he needs streets,” the mayor threatened. “If the city doesn’t want to cooperate, [Sitt’s] going to spend a lot of time with a lot of money tied up.”

• Hizzoner’s own budgetary concerns clearly weighed his mind, as he predicted the financial distress for the city — which was one the main reason that Bloomberg cited last year as the need for an extension of term limits.

“We are going to have downsize every part of government and the question is can I find ways to maintain or improve the services with less because the taxpayer is not going to spend any more.”

• If the mayor is re-elected, he will ask Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to stay on the job.

• Small business owners and individuals who feel they have been given excessive tickets for minor violations, like the Prospect Heights man who got a ticket for drinking a beer on his front stoop, did not get much sympathy from the mayor, who doubts there is a widespread problem with overzealous ticketing agents.

“The enforcement person hopefully uses some judgment. … Generally, these things [drinking in the park, littering] are not enforced,” the mayor said.

Besides, he said, people getting tickets have no one to blame but themselves.

“If people are getting too many traffic tickets, the future is in their hands,” he said. “They’re the ones deliberately breaking the law.”

That said, the mayor did have a comment about stoop-drinker Kimber VanRy.

“I never understood why we don’t let you drink in the park,” he said. “I mean, you go to watch the Philharmonic with a bottle of wine. Come on.”

But he still defended the ticketing agents in general.

“If [we] have to cut our budget because we don’t have enough money for, say, the police department, they can reduce the amount they spoend or we can increase the amount of revenue they bring in. So having the ticketing agents give more tickets is a way to bring in more money.”

When questioned whether enforcement agents were using common sense or merely writing tickets arbitrarily, the mayor admitted that it’s hard to find good help nowadays.

“We don’t pay people that do these jobs an enormous amount. We try to get the best people we can for what we can afford and it’s easy to second-guess. I’m not so sure that the press coverage is accurate. I wasn’t there.”

He added that the ticketing — whether regarding litter or hazardous driving — was having positive effects on the city overall.

“The city is a lot cleaner than it ever was before,” he said. “Traffic deaths are way down in this city.”

• He also cited a number of statistical accomplishments during his watch, including a 15-month gain in life expectancy, 10,000 fewer smoking deaths per year and a 30-second drop in emergency response times when the city placed navigation systems in every ambulance.

• One statistic that he didn’t challenge is the increasingly thin blue line: there are 5,000 fewer cops now than when the mayor took office. Some say that the result has been an uptick in crime, including a 21-percent homicide spike in the 13 precincts that make up the Brooklyn South command.

“The law says I have to balance the budget,” he said. “But make no mistake, we’ve downsized the size because we could not afford a police department of that size. My job is not to have the biggest police department in the world, my job is to bring down crime. … Incidentally, it’s not clear that more cops equal lower crime.”

The mayor is hoping to win the endorsement of each of the 30 newspapers in the Community Newspaper Group, which has community weeklies in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.

Updated 5:14 pm, July 9, 2018: Story was updated again to add more comments from the mayor.

Reasonable discourse

Norman Oder says:

Bloomberg's analysis of the Atlantic Yards arena is a little thin. Did project opponents cause the price to go up 50%? More here:http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2009/08/bloomberg-blames-ay-opponents-for-loss.html

Aug. 25, 2009, 11:40 am

al pankin from downtown says:

Mayor bloomberg has done a great job, I don't always agree with him or what he does, he has a difficult job. not one of the candidates who are running against him for mayor are qualified for the job. not one has ever created a single job for this city except to expand public services,they certainly couldn't balance a checkbook. Mayor Guillani cleaned up this city and made it livable and did things no one else had the guts to do. mayor Bloomberg continued making it better. All the other candidates would drag the city back to the bad old days.

Aug. 25, 2009, 11:56 am

brokeland from brooklyn says:

Mayor Bloomberg is out of touch.

Aug. 25, 2009, 12:07 pm

John from On High says:

I agree with Bloomberg about using the Gehry design at Atlantic Yards. Brooklyn's architecture and ways of life need a jolt. Our landscape has been afflicted with too much modesty and self effacement for too long. Speaking of downtown, when will the also modest renovation of the LIRR station be completed?

Aug. 25, 2009, 4:33 pm

Paul from Park Slope says:

Nothing like a puff piece, is there! Was this an interview, a recitation of PR statements, or a junior high softball game?

Who is this guy"...who won the chance to run for re-election last year after the City Council acceded to his wishes..."? * You mean the guy who bought his way back onto the ballot by bribing and coercing City Council (ask Darlene Nealy what pressure puke tastes like) after a slavish parade of organizations he funds called him indispensable? That guy? *The guy who didn't put aside any city money during the flush times, made the city economy more dependent than ever on FIRE (Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate) economics by driving out light manufacturing to make way for luxury condos, this is the financial genius who is absolutely necessary to getting us out of the hole he helped his cronies dig? *Is this the guy who calls himself the Environmental Mayor while flying to his weekend place on his highly polluting private jet while dreaming up more mailers printed on fallen forests using polluting inks, just to tout his genius?

These are all the obvious questions a reporter would have asked. Too bad one wasn't around. Hey, did the Mayor bring the entire staff cheerleading equipment? Not that is looks like you need it. I'm sure Murdoch will tell you when you should wear it.

Aug. 25, 2009, 5:09 pm

Rhywun from Bay Ridge says:

I'm not a huge fan of Bloomberg, but I have to reluctantly agree that he's better (and has been better) than any of the other candidates who make it to election day.

As for Atlantic Yards, I'd love to see Gehry there. I don't wanna pay for it though, which kind of means I am against the project. Same goes for Coney Island. These big projects that mayors love always wind up being paid for by taxpayers, while the profits are reaped by well-connected developers. The city's job should be simply to zone the land and then get out of the way. Stop sticking us with the bill.

Aug. 25, 2009, 6:55 pm

Lezer Kestenbaum from Williamsburg says:

Never should we forget how Mayor Bloomberg defended the city's plan to kill 2000 Canada geese this ... The man hisses like a snake and frankly, reminds me of the saleslady at Macy's .... Mayor Bloombergs actions are a confirmation of the selfish materialism ...

Aug. 25, 2009, 7:35 pm

Sid from Boerum Hill says:

someone should tell Bloomberg that Ratner fired Gerhy and he isn't coming back. Its probable that Atlantic yards will be finished by someone else after Ratner goes bankrupt(as happens many times I have no inside info just making an observation). Yep blame it on the little guy not the Mayor and his minions refusing to go through the NY City ULURP process....

Aug. 25, 2009, 9:27 pm

Eric McClure from Park Slope says:

“One of the great sins here is this small group of people" -- Mayor Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and 28 other Council members -- extended term limits that had twice(!) been approved by the city's voters.

Aug. 26, 2009, 11:42 am

brokeland from downtown says:

Simon and Garfunkel?!

Aug. 26, 2009, 12:01 pm

Julius from Kensington says:

Gee, no mention on the falling SAT scores of city students for 5 years in a row? PUFF PIECE!

Aug. 26, 2009, 1:02 pm

NoMoreKingMike from Park Slope says:

“One of the great sins here is this small group of people stalled it so long [that] the economy is different,” from KING MIKE a man that would-be third-term-er, who won the chance to run for re-election last year after the hapless/gutless self-serving City Council acceded to his wishes that the two-term limit be eliminated, despite two public referenda affirming it. 1 man goes against the voters THAT is the REAL SIN!!!

Aug. 26, 2009, 4:44 pm

RWordplay from SoHo says:

The mayor is an arriviste with a taste for Kitsch. He is a little man impressed with monstrosities. He doesn't know an "icon," from an eyesore. If we need a reason to see the credit collapse as a blessing, the tumbling of Ratner's and Gehry's folly.

Aug. 26, 2009, 8:25 pm

robjh1 from Manhattan says:

Why are people afraid of good change? Look at Times Square.

Aug. 27, 2009, 9:19 am

Gwendolyn from Gowanus says:

Hey Rwordplay: What's better----edgy, over -the-top, yet thought provoking kitsch or the mindset that numbingly dull cityscapes should be preserved just because they're "venerable" and low rise?"

Aug. 27, 2009, 2:24 pm

Paul from Park Slope says:

Ah, "Gwendolyn from Gowanus"! The lovely Lavender Lake area where the city mounted a stealth campaign against Superfund designation to allow luxury developer Toll Brothers build on highly contaminated land. But of course His Honor knew how to clean it up...by repeatedly saying "It's just fine, I don't see anything." And with a fake community group or two. And absolutely zip scientific basis for any of the lies the city spouted.But Gwendolyn probably thinks Mike walks on water. In parts of the Gowanus, he might! Until his feet dissolved.

Aug. 27, 2009, 5:41 pm

Gwendolyn from Gowanus says:

Au contraire, Rwordplay. I agree with Bloomberg on this one issue. However, I can't get over his imperiousness in trampling on the will of the people by overturning the term limits law with the aquiesence of the spineless city council. He makes Putin look like an amateur by comparison. By the way, you know of course that "Gwendolyn from Gowanus" is only a pseudonym. I am very male.

Aug. 28, 2009, 11:21 am

RWordplay from SoHo says:

Having worked for three months on the project, I'll only say that Gerhy's nonsense—a diabolical physical projection of his resentment and anger at one and all for our collective sin of not recognizing his genius until he reached his 70s—is as inappropriate as it is kitsch. (The man's designs are already dated and in any cases despised, too.)It is not a project designed to be inhabited and utilized by thousands for decades, but to be photographed from flattering angles and to be seen from great distances.

Gehry's yearns for something truly important—Bilboa is in the end only a museum and was perfectly placed and planned—neither of which can be said of Atlantic Yards. For Ratner, AY would have elevated the little man into the A list of developers, for Gehry, AYA would be a City within a City, it would have been his Rockefeller Center. Its designs has everything to do with these mens tortured egos and nothing with providing Brooklyn with something extraordinary.

Aug. 28, 2009, 10:12 pm

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